Contents

Contents

1 The Prophetic Calling of Jeremiah--September 26?October 2 6

2 The Crisis (Within and Without)--October 3?9

14

3 The Last Five Kings of Israel--October 10?16

22

4 Rebuke and Retribution--October 17?23

30

5 More Woes for the Prophet--October 24?30

38

6 Symbolic Acts--October 31?November 6

46

7 The Crisis Continues--November 7?13

56

8 Josiah's Reforms--November 14?20

64

9 Jeremiah's Yoke--November 21?27

72

10 The Destruction of Jerusalem--November 28?December 4

80

11 The Covenant--December 5?11

88

12 Back to Egypt--December 12?18

96

13 Lessons From Jeremiah--December 19?25

104

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Principal Contributor

Imre Tokics

Editor

Clifford R. Goldstein

Associate Editor

Soraya Homayouni

Publication Manager

Lea Alexander Greve

Editorial Assistant

Sharon Thomas-Crews

Pacific Press? Coordinator

Wendy Marcum

Art Director and Illustrator

Lars Justinen

Design

Justinen Creative Group

? 2015 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists?. All rights reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists?. The division offices of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists? are authorized to arrange for translation of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, under specific guidelines. Copyright of such translations and their publication shall remain with the General Conference. "Seventh-day Adventist," "Adventist," and the flame logo are registered trademarks of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists? and may not be used without prior authorization from the General Conference. Cover and interior images ? 2015 Lars Justinen and GoodSalt Inc. All rights reserved.

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Mi-Yittan

B iblical Hebrew, like most languages, is sprinkled with idioms, words, or phrases that mean something different from what they immediately say. An example is mi-yittan, which is composed of two Hebrew words: mi, which is the interrogative "who?"; and yittan, which means "will give." Thus, we have "who will give?"

In the Hebrew Bible, this phrase expresses the idea of a wish, of a desire, of someone wanting something badly. For instance, after their escape from Egypt, the children of Israel, facing challenges in the wilderness, exclaimed, " `If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt!' " (Exod. 16:3, NIV). The phrase "if only" came from mi-yittan. In Psalm 14:7, David utters, "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!" The Hebrew doesn't say, "Oh"; it says, mi-yittan. In Job 6:8, when Job exclaims, " `Oh, that I might have my request' " (NIV), "Oh" is from mi-yittan.

Another occurrence appears, this time in Deuteronomy 5:29. Going over the history of God's providences, Moses reminds the children of Israel about their request that he, Moses, talk to the Lord for them, lest they die. According to Moses, the Lord, pleased with their request, then said: "Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would hear Me and always keep all My commandments" (NKJV).

The word translated "Oh"? Yes, it is mi-yittan. Incredible! Here is the Lord--the Creator God, the One who made space, time, and matter, the One who spoke our world into existence, the One who breathed into

2

Adam the breath of life--uttering a phrase generally associated with the weaknesses

and limitations of humanity.

Talk about the reality of free will. Talk about the limits of what God can do in

the midst of the great controversy. This use of mi-yittan reveals that even God won't

trample on free will (because the moment He did, it

would no longer be free).

Now, if ever one book of the Old Testament revealed The book of Jeremiah the reality of God's desire for humans to obey Him, recounts the ministry

and the human tendency not to, it would be the book of Jeremiah, the topic of this quarter. Set against the background of great geopolitical changes in the ancient Near East, the book of Jeremiah recounts the ministry and message of the prophet as he, with passion and

and message of the prophet as he, with passion and faithfulness, preached God's

faithfulness, preached God's message to a people who, message to a people

for the most part, didn't want to hear it. Starting with the prophet's call, the book takes us

through decades of biblical history as the Lord used this young (and then old) man to proclaim the basic truths

who, for the most part, didn't want to hear it.

that have been the foundation of the biblical message

from the beginning. And of all the spiritual truths taught in the book, these words

catch the essence of so much of what the Lord seeks from His people: "Thus says the

Lord: `Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his

might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this,

that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love,

justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord' "

(Jer. 9:23, 24, ESV).

To read the book of Jeremiah is to take a journey, a spiritual journey that goes back

and forth from the lowest depths of human depravity to the heights and grandeur and

majesty of the Lord--the Lord who, from those heights, cries out to all of us: Mi-yittan

that such a heart would be in you!

Imre Tokics, PhD, is the head of the Old Testament Department at the Adventist Theological College, Pecel, Hungary. He is a professor of Old Testament and Jewish religious sciences, and also has a doctor of law (LLD) degree.

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"Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." 2 Chronicles 20:20, ESV

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